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ISLAMABAD: Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) Secretary Babar Yaqoob Fateh Muhammad has indicated that electronic voting machines (EVMs) and biometric verification machines will not be used in the 2018 general elections.

Sharing details of the test run of BVMs in the recently held by-election in Lahore’s NA-120 constituency at a press briefing here on Friday, he disclosed that fingerprints of 12 per cent voters could not be read by the machines.

He said the number of voters at the time of the next general elections would reach around 100 million. “If the fingerprints of 12 per cent voters are not readable for various reasons that time, it means around 12 million voters would not be verified through the technology.”

The machines could not verify fingerprints of 12pc voters in NA-120 by-election, says ECP secretary

He said the percentage could be even more in the country’s rural areas.

Giving details of the test run in the NA-120 by-election, he said the ECP used 100 BVMs at as many polling booths in 39 polling stations in which a total of 57,265 voters were registered.

Amid low turnout in the by-election, a total of 22,181 voters used BVMs. The machines could verify 19,520 of them through fingerprints and other data. They could not read fingerprints of the rest 2,646 voters that constitute 12pc of those who tried the technology.

“These results are not encouraging at all. If this sample ratio is taken, of the 90.7 million voters registered in the country, BVMs would not be able to identify 11.6 million of them,” he remarked.

The ECP secretary said that NA-120 was an urban constituency with high literacy rate and people mostly from affluent families. If these machines were used in a constituency comprising rural areas, the ratio of those who could not be verified by them would be much higher, he added.

The newly appointed Additional Secretary of ECP, Dr Akhtar Nazeer, and Director General of Information Technology Khizar Aziz were also present on the occasion.

Answering a question about rumours taking rounds on social media that the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) won from all polling stations where the biometric machines were used, Mr Aziz said it was not correct.

He said that out of the total 39 polling stations where the machines were used, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz got more votes from 28 polling stations while the PTI emerged victorious from 11 of them.

Meanwhile, the National Database and Registration Authority on Friday clarified that it was asked to provide biometric fingerprints of voters of the NA-120 constituency, after the ECP had decided to install biometric voting machines in the by-election. Subsequently, out of the total 321,786 voters of this constituency, Nadra could not provide data of 29, 607 voters due to multiple reasons.

According to a Nadra official, the authority introduced biometric finger capturing machines in 2005-06 and before that period finger prints were used to be taken on paper-based forms. “Of 29,607 people whose fingerprints data was not provided, 26,349 acquired CNICs before 2005-06. Moreover, out of 26,349, CNICs of 24,099 people, having paper-based fingerprints, were expired or that number could not renew their CNICs after the expiry of CNIC due to deaths, migration or other reasons best known to them.”

Whereas, 2,271 people are in possession of National Identity Card for Overseas Pakistanis who gave their fingerprints on paper, he added.

Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) Secretary Babar Yaqoob Fateh Muhammad has indicated that electronic voting machines (EVMs) and biometric verification machines will not be used in the 2018 general elections. HERE WE GO AGAIN - SAME MUSIC, SAME DACEING TUNES

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NKAli

Sep 23, 2017 11:04am

"If you put garbage in a computer nothing comes out but garbage. But this garbage, having passed through a very expensive machine, is somehow ennobled and none dare criticize it."……. Rory Bremner
When were these BVMs imported? Were they serviced regularly? Were new spare parts imported or old ones repaired? (Pakistanis are loathe to maintenance).
The whole world is moving on to honest electronic voting and we superhuman Pakistanis find fault with electronics being used in elections. IMPOSSIBLE!!! Salams

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Awan

Sep 23, 2017 11:42am

Postpone elections to 2019 then

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Riaz Ahmad

Sep 23, 2017 12:07pm

Nadra could not provide data of 29, 607 voters due to multiple reasons.................
Nadra is integral part of rigging process, by leaving discrepencies in the varifications is the means through which rigging becomes possible. In the last election, magenetic ink was deliberately not used, that is what made rigging possible. When ruling parties, RO's, ECP and Nadra together become part and parcel of rigging process, there can never be free and fair election, with out which there can be no democracy.

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Bilal

Sep 23, 2017 12:37pm

Preparation for 2018 elections underway. Pre-emptive strike on any remote possibility of a free and fair election in Pakistan by the Nawaz Sharif and his corrupt buddies. How difficult it is to run electronic voting machines when many other countries are already using them?

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HAKIM

Sep 23, 2017 01:03pm

If the machines failed, the ECP system may succeed. The same Thappa business again.

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I m Pakistan

Sep 23, 2017 02:23pm

What is rocket science involved in this when world over these machines are used and effective too.

Are we living in the same world?
ECP & NADRA it's your failure to facilitate riggers.

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Muhammad Yunus Choudhry, Forensic Scientist

Sep 24, 2017 03:00am

Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) should have opted expert’s opinions and realities under the circumstances rather than listening to ignorant politician(s). This could have saved their time, energies, efforts and country’s resources. ECP has reached to the same findings that I have been consistently pointing out through my letters to NADRA, ECP and comments to Dawn concerning "Voters' verification impossible" from 2014 through present. Electronic voting machines are not practically useful in Pakistani elections rather it would be more problematic and may adversely, effect the credibility of an election and would result in an unnecessary economic burden.

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WB

Sep 24, 2017 07:28am

This is not a viable excuse. Remedy the technical faults and use them. Or any other technology, to take an example, look at our neighbor, India, which used Electronic voting machines.
As long as the elections are not fair, we have no hope whatsoever.

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Shaheen

Sep 25, 2017 02:35pm

The main issues is, they will be using low quality / china made machinery to deduct finger print. A simple question how Nadra / Mobile Data systems verify finger prints for issuing new sims if it is not possible.